


Home is where the heart is

by Maura_Moo



Series: Newsies tumblr fic dump [8]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Artist Jack Kelly, Bisexual Jack Kelly, Cora and Race are adopted siblings, IKEA Furniture, Jack Kelly is a dumbass, Jack and Coras friendship is precious, Minor Crutchie/Jack Kelly, Minor Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins, Moving, Other, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Racetrack Higgins and Jack Kelly Are Like Siblings, Slightly - Freeform, theyre late teens early twenties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29526027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maura_Moo/pseuds/Maura_Moo
Summary: “Cowboy?” She hums out, prodding at his back with her foot. “Youse alive?”“Nooo, I died” he whimpers back, tilting his head out of the carpet to look up at her.  Confused brown eyes meet laughing green ones “why youse laughin at me?!”
Relationships: Crutchie/Jack Kelly, David Jacobs/Original Female Character(s), Jack Kelly & Original Character(s), Jack Kelly & Original Female Character(s), Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Series: Newsies tumblr fic dump [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2168985
Kudos: 1





	Home is where the heart is

Cora didn’t mind their old apartment. In fact she loved it. 

She loved the mold that grew on the bathroom wall.

She loved the neighbours that threw parties until sunrise every night.

There were memories scattered across the apartment. From the smudged paintings that were hidden from sneakily behind furniture and away from the landlords prying eyes to the unfaded magic of whispered dreams over glasses of wine. 

Cora loved the neighbours loud music, the mold that clung stubbornly to the bathroom tiles, the holes in the wall. 

Cora loved all that. She would miss all that.

But what she would miss the most would be the hyper conversations of Jack telling her about the cute play specialist with the soft blond hair and the voice that sounded like sunshine. She would miss the echo of music against the walls as they laid upside down on the couch singing, their hair brushing against the carpet. 

Cora would miss the memories that these walls held. That the apartment held. 

She would miss the conversations about Jack’s paintings at the hospital, them fighting over the shower in the morning, sprinting and jumping over each other to grab the bathroom first and use up the hot water. 

She would miss the gentle kisses shared with Davey against her bedroom door. The lipstick kisses pressed against her wall by her bed. 

The sound of Jack singing off-key while he paints. The smell of burnt pasta that lingers for ages in the kitchen. The birds singing on her windowsill every morning as the sun strains through her pale curtains. 

“Ya ready to go?” Jack’s voice was surprisingly soft as it pushed its way through the cloudy thoughts in her mind. He stumbled into her vision and laid a careful arm around her shoulders. Cora no longer felt adrift in her feels and she found comfort in his chest, ear pressed above his heart. 

She nods, feet not moving. Her fingers trace the painting on the wall, over the rough walls. If she closed her eyes and thought hard enough, she could feel the icy chill of the snow and the irregular bumps of the mountains, the cool crispness of the green grass, the stickiness of the clay houses. 

For a few seconds, she was in Santa Fe. 

“Mr Synder wasn’t happy about that huh?” Jack says with a breathy chuckle as he kisses her head. When she smiles back, he smiles and releases her “c’mon the trucks outside” 

Jack casts his eyes around the empty living room and sighs, fingers clutching at the unsteady cardboard in his arms. With the absence of furniture, Jack notices how cold their apartment really is, with its peeling white wallpaper and tiny cracked windows.

His paintings will be covered by layers of white paint and thick wallpaper and soon the apartment will look normal again. He’d be lying if he said that the idea of his hardwork, his legacy, disappearing as someone else walks through the halls didn’t pang at his heart, but life has to move regardless of his name living on like the best kept secret. 

He listens to how Cora’s footsteps echo off the barron walls, the squeaking of the kitchen door. From the window ‘s reflection he could see her washing her hands in the sink, one last time, he sees her shiver at the cold water that she splashes on her face. 

He knows she’s stressed, anxious about moving. 

She had grown accustomed to the cramped kitchen, the paint-stained wood floor, the tiny rooms with the thin walls. Jack felt guilty for making them both move, to make Cora give up her safe space, but he couldn’t keep listening to her cough after coming out of the bathroom, or watch the bruises grow on her sides because the wall by the front door was too narrow for her object permanence. 

It isn’t just her health as well. Jack takes a deep breath and his nose crinkles at the smell of gas that is now painfully obvious now that he’s alone in his own thoughts. He remembers the rush of fear whenever he lights a cigarette, the image of his own clothes catching fire by the very trace of gas soaked into his clothes flashing quickly in his brain.

He doesn’t notice that Cora has closed the kitchen door and has been blinking at him for a few seconds. He feels a cold hand press against the exposed skin on his arm and he flinches back into the real world, met by the blonde’s bright green eyes and gentle smile. 

“The truck ain’t gonna wait much longer” she tells him and Jack chuckles, turning on his heels and walking into the hallway. 

With one last click of the door, their legacies in apartment 189 were closed and sealed like a forgotten time capsule. 

Cora slides into the passage side of the car and listens to Jack as he starts the car, jumping forward to turn down the radio with a bashful chuckle. They follow the moving van, settled in a comfortable but mournful silence. 

The next time they speak is when they’re in their new apartment, arms tired and legs trembling from carrying Ikea furniture from their car up five flights of stairs. It’s a warm night and the gentle hum of Lower Manhattan traffic settles the fear that has been bubbling in Cora’s stomach. 

The apartment is nice, two floors up from Race and Spot and four floors and three doors down from the Jacobs family. It’s bustling with people that the two of them know. The walls are clean of mold and the neighbours are a polite old married couple that invited the new “lovebirds nextdoor” around for homemade cookies.

It makes Cora crumple her nose in abject disgust at the thought of dating Jack and Jack bashfully explains that he has a boyfriend, tripping over his words before sticking out his hand and mumbling “the names Jack Kelly..t-this is Cora Higgins…my friend” 

The old couple nods at Jack’s useless attempt at introducing himself and smile sweetly when Cora covers his mouth and explains that they’re best friends living together to save. 

Cora likes the new apartment, it’s nice to be closer to her brother and his husband. It’s nice to be able to have a larger kitchen, it’s nice to be near her boyfriend, to hear him humming on the balcony above her. For him to be on her doorstep in 10 seconds, bright eyed and smiling instead of breathing heavy and sweating from running half way across town. 

Jack likes the open plan living room, the plain walls being the best possible canvas. The large windows soaking in the heat of the setting sun, the larger bedrooms and thicker walls give him more room for his paints and pictures. He likes the hardwood in the living room, his socks slide effortlessly across it and he laughs. 

The apartment is perfect for the both of them. They’ve found their home. 

Cora is the first one to break the still air in their apartment. She chuckles as she looks from her phone to Jack, he’s been laying face down in the white carpet surrounded by open Ikea boxes and half-finished furniture for the past two hours, grumbling into the floor. 

“Cowboy?” She hums out, prodding at his back with her foot. “Youse alive?” 

“Nooo, I died” he whimpers back, tilting his head out of the carpet to look up at her. Confused brown eyes meet laughing green ones “why youse laughin at me?!”

“Move outta da way Kelly. Lemme do dis” Cora squats down next to him. Soon the abstract art pieces turn are turned into desks, couches, beds, bookshelves. He stares dumbfounded as the forrest of furniture grows around him. 

“Why did youse do that?, I coulda done it myself…eventually” he tells her as they push the last bookshelf against the wall. 

There’s silence between the two friends. A strange silence only broken as Cora’s round nails tap against the hardwood, the sounds bounce out against the walls and Jack follows them with his eyes until they disappear. 

“Because I hate watching you do this to yourself” 

Jack blinks confused at her. There’s a few more beats of silence before the blonde rolls her eyes and goes “ya do so much for everyone else..ya deserve to have some people do some things for youse” She gives him a warm smile. 

“I love ya like a brother Jackie and I see youse give food to the younger ones in Mama Medda’s class, how you help me and Davey when we’re overstimulated..I sees how sometimes ya stick ya hands in your’s pockets because you don’t want us to see you shaking and it hurts.” 

Jack feels a knot tighten in his stomach. Cora’s right. He hides a lot behind his flirty personality and coy smile. “I never thought you noticed.” He doesn’t recognise the softness of his voice or the feeling of tears on his face until she brushes one away off his cheek. 

“I hate watchin’ ya pretend that you’re okay when you’re not. It’s okay to cry.” 

Jack hugs her tightly before releasing her. He gathers the rest of his stuff and settles it in his room. He lays on the bed and thinks about their new lives. Their futures, the legacies that they will carve out for themselves. 

Jack loves the new apartment. 

He loves how close it was to the hospital.

He loved how near it was to Crutchie’s small home. 

But most importantly. 

Jack loves that he has people who care about him.


End file.
